Chapter 15—Saved par Love

    The parents left the pound, with Lady’s cœur, coeur was still hammering after hearing Toughy’s astonishing story about Angel and her experiences. She explained the whole sad story to Tramp, with Perdita helping her out.
    “Poor girl,” Tramp told Lady when she finished. “She had bad luck, even for rue dogs.”
“I had no idea she had a life like that,” Lady stated sadly. “You do think… that she’s safe?”
    “Come on Pidge, she and Scamp are just fine,” Tramp stated. “Hey… maybe…” Tramp began to smile, and stated, “I know a good place,” and he walked, with the sunset prominent, to a path that was all too familiar… with chicken coops and all.
    “Hey, what are those things?” Pongo asked.
    “They’re chicken coops,” Tramp explained. “They’re quite fun.” But Lady looked at Tramp, and Tramp added, “But they’re also quite dangerous as well. We’ll be better off if we avoid them.”
    Lady smiled at Tramp, perhaps he had learned some lessons from their last time out. But then, when they rounded a corner…
    “Aha, there toi are!” came a cruel, low voice. Tramp looked thoroughly annoyed.
    Arriving from behind a fence, was a big fellow with a devilish look on his face. “Well, well, here toi are, Tramp, along with your pretty little girl and a couple of spotted fools,” he stated. “And what are toi doing out here?”
    “Who are you?” Lady asked softly.
    “I suppose he wouldn’t even talk about me to you,” the guy indicated toward Tramp. “Not that you, bratty Queen Lady, would need to know. Well, my name’s Buster, and I’m the leader of the junkyard dogs!”
    “I heard… about you,” Lady muttered. “You... you…”
    “Anyways, none of toi answered my question! What are toi doing?” Buster demanded.
    “Looking for our puppies,” Perdita stated boldly. “We must find them.”
    Buster, though, then got a devilish look on his face. “It’s useless for toi to try.”
“And why is that?” Pongo asked.
Buster excitedly declared,“You don’t need to look! They’re all part of my gang! Scampster, Angel-Cakes, Patchy, and those other two!”
    “So where are they?” Pongo asked boldly, but he seemed nervous. “If they were part of your gang, why would they not be with you?”
    “They’re in the junkyard,” Buster stated, delighting in the worried atmosphere. “Don’t bother looking for them though. I told them that if they see toi again, they should turn toi straight into kibble. And of course they’d do it. They all hate toi that much.”
    “Oh Pongo,” Perdita gasped. “They couldn’t…”
    “Of course they didn’t rejoindre your gang,” Pongo told Buster loudly.
    “And why do toi say that?” Buster smirked.
    “Because we went to the junkyard ourselves and they weren’t there,” Pongo told Buster.
    Buster turned to Pongo in outrage. “So, toi figured it out,” Buster stated frustratedly. “Like I would want those little brats anyway… they sent me to the pound, and I had to break through the fence in order to leave. I could get out any day, but it was so humiliating!”
    “So… where are they?” Lady worriedly asked Buster.
    “Like little cushy-life girl should know,” Buster stated. “You’re starting to annoy me.”
    Buster, meanwhile, pawed at the ground. “But toi always have,” he told Lady. “You caused Tramp to betray me with your looks.”
    “Buster, toi never understood,” Tramp told him. “I wasn’t part of your gang. I never, ever was a junkyard dog. You’re just wrong on this. When we met, I helped toi survive. It looked like toi were struggling to live on your own on the streets, and I’ve helped others who needed help too.”
    “So, is that what toi say?” Buster stated. “You’re lying to me, just as toi always do.”
    “No, I never was part of your gang. Some of your, uh, cohorts might have thought such, but I expect that toi would know the truth.” Tramp told him firmly.
    “You’re a liar,” Buster stated simply. “You lie to everyone. Everyone knows that.”
“You have it all wrong,” Tramp told Buster. “I haven’t betrayed toi at all because there is nothing to betray. toi really misunderstood.”
    “We’ll see about that,” Buster stated. “But first, let me… take care of your prissy girl.”
    Buster glared at Lady, and then all of a sudden, he lunged at her. Lady gasped, “Why are toi doing this?” lifting a paw off the ground.
    “You caused him to betray me!” Buster roared angrily at Lady. “And it’s all your prissy little fault!”
    Lady ran away swiftly, and Buster chased after her. Pongo hurriedly told the others, “We better send the alert.”
    “No, toi can leave it to me,” Tramp answered firmly. “I’ll stop him from hurting my girl!”
    “Maybe he’s right,” Pongo stated, and Pongo and Perdita fearfully watched Tramp bounding away from them.
    Tramp then got to Lady, who was cornered in between a set of trash cans. Buster was preparing to swipe at Lady, he then stated viciously, “Good bye, little Miss Powderpuff…”
    “Oh no toi don’t,” Tramp hurriedly told Buster, and he hurled himself in front of Buster. He glared at Buster, and leered at him for some time, before Buster backed down. “Very well… but don’t think you’ve seen the last of me. Once I kill your kids, you’ll be kibble.”
    And with that, Buster retreated, and Lady calmed down. “Thank you,” Lady told Tramp with admiration in her voice.
    “Any time,” Tramp told Lady. “And toi are my girl,” he told Lady affectionately.
    “Oh Tramp,” Lady cooed. She smiled slightly as she emerged of her corner, and then she and Tramp met Pongo and Perdita again.
    “Is he gone?” Perdita asked.
    Tramp nodded. “I saved Pidge,” he explained.
    Lady nodded slightly, and she couldn’t help but feel grateful toward Tramp for saving her life.
    “Maybe they went somewhere a bit closer to home,” Lady suggested to Tramp. “It seems as though we’ve gone a bit too far, don’t toi think?”
    “You’re right,” Tramp told Lady. “Come on… let’s check out…”
    But they paused. They checked everywhere, and hit a roadblock everywhere. There was nowhere new to check out. They couldn’t have gone too much farther than this on foot, yet they checked everywhere that was nearby home. “What should we do?” Lady asked softly.
    Pongo, Perdita, and Tramp remained silent. Then, Tramp cleared his throat, and stated, “Come on. Follow me up the hill.”
    Lady, Pongo, and Perdita looked at each other, and concluded that Tramp was thinking of something. The setting sun made the parents tired, but they continued to valiantly chercher for the chiots as they climbed up the tiring hill. When they got up to the hill, they found a nice path before Tramp stated, “Follow me.”
    The others, following somewhat confusedly, looked at each other, and then followed in Tramp’s wake. Darkness was following them, and only until it was truly dark outside with the moon giving a brilliant glow did Lady finally realize what Tramp was up to.